1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of digital data management and more particularly to systems for data backup applications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Digital content, represented by digital data files of various file types, is rapidly replacing other forms of content. Documents, presentations, photos, movies, and music, for example, are increasingly produced and stored digitally. A problem for many individuals and organizations is that digital content, typically stored on a computer hard drive, can be poorly organized and needs to be archived to be protected against accidental loss. For example, digital photo files on a personal computer (PC) are likely to be found in numerous folders—photos transferred from a digital camera are stored in one set of folders, photos received as e-mail attachments are stored in other folders, and photos downloaded from websites are stored in still other folders.
One approach to archiving digital content is to periodically backup all of the data files on the computer, preserving the existing organizational structure. While this technique is effective to preserve digital content against accidental loss, the technique has several shortcomings. For one, the resulting copy is no better organized than the original, so misplaced or disorganized content remains misplaced or disorganized. Also, backing up all data files requires substantial memory capacity to copy numerous files that are otherwise already preserved elsewhere. Application specific files, for example, originally loaded onto the computer from a compact disc (CD) are already archived on the CD and therefore do not need to be backed up.
The necessary storage capacity for a complete backup can be obtained with writable data storage media, such as hard disc drives (HDDs), however, these require device installation and software set-up when first connected to a system. In order to complete these steps, a user may have to provide information about the existing system, which the user may not readily know. Also, the user may have to make decisions regarding the configuration of the device and the backup software. The number of steps involved with installation and set-up, as well as the complexity of some of the steps, dissuades many users from bothering with backup applications. The expense of a writable data storage media with enough capacity to perform a complete backup can also dissuade users from performing complete backups. Furthermore, some users, having bought and installed the necessary storage capacity, are dissuaded from performing frequent backups due to the length of time the system is tied up while performing a complete backup.
Alternately, a user can manually select a set of files from a directory and copy the selected files to a storage device. While this alternative may allow usage of a smaller memory device that does not require installation and set-up steps, manually selecting files is time-consuming. Also, manually selecting files creates the possibility of an accidental omission of some files.
Another issue with manually selecting files relates to the way files are stored by certain applications, particularly e-mail programs. For example, Microsoft Outlook stores e-mail messages and their attachments in an .ost or .pst file. Most search utilities cannot examine the contents of the .ost and .pst files. Thus, a search for all .jpg files on a PC, for example, will not find those .jpg files that are stored as e-mail attachments. Accordingly, for a user of a PC equipped with Outlook to find and back up all photos received as e-mail attachments, the user has to run Outlook, find all of the e-mails with attachments, and examine each attachment for the various appropriate file types for digital photos. Besides being a cumbersome process, a user may inadvertently skip attached photos with unfamiliar extensions.
What is needed, therefore, is the ability to selectively backup digital content in a manner that is inexpensive, convenient, and complete.